Sixers, Bucks trade bench players

After weeks of speculation that the 76ers might trade one or more of their core players, yesterday they executed a trade that was essentially a swap of bench players.

In a trade executed just a few hours before the NBA's 3 p.m. trading deadline, Sixers president and general manager Ed Stefanski traded seldom-used guard Royal Ivey, almost never-used center Primoz Brezec, and a 2010 second-round draft pick to the Milwaukee Bucks for two rarely used players: rookie guard Jodie Meeks and center Francisco Elson.

According to a source close to the situation, the trade's primary focus was the acquisition of Meeks, a shooting guard high on the Sixers' 2009 draft board.

Meeks, averaging 4.1 points in 11.9 minutes a game this season, was drafted 41st overall by Milwaukee in the 2009 NBA draft. Meeks, from the University of Kentucky, is making $650,000 this season and is under contract through the 2011-12 season.

"We like his upside and obviously we'll see," Stefanski said. "We'll get to see firsthand if he's the player that we thought. We thought it was a minor move, an inexpensive move, to see if all the scouts and everyone in the organization was right on this guy."

Elson, in his seventh NBA season, has played in only 11 games, averaging 0.9 points.

Considering the magnitude of some of the speculated deals involving the Sixers - including potential trades for the Houston Rockets' Tracy McGrady or the Phoenix Suns' Amar'e Stoudemire - yesterday's move was barely a ripple in the NBA water. (McGrady was acquired by the Knicks in a three-way trade with Sacramento. Stoudemire stayed put.)

Stefanski said it made "no sense" within the organization to give up talent - namely swingman Andre Iguodala - in exchange for expiring contracts such as McGrady's or Stoudemire's.

"There was nothing out there that we could have gotten back that would have helped us on the floor," Stefanski said. "If there was, we definitely would have pulled the trigger. We were looking for basketball deals that would have helped us, and there was nothing that came up that would have done that."

This season, Ivey averaged 2.6 points in 26 games with the Sixers; Brezec, 0.7 points in seven games. Both players' contracts expire at the end of this season.

Yesterday afternoon, Ivey sent this message from his Twitter account: "Well it's done I'm going back to the Mil! It's been real going miss my teammates real rap! It's a business got to get it!"

Ivey played for Milwaukee in the 2007-08 season.

Iguodala followed with this message: "Shout out to my man Royal Ivey, one of the best t'mates I ever had. Didn't get to show what he could do this year, but will show and prove: Good Luck!"

Stefanski said all angles were pursued: two-team trades, three-team trades, even four-team deals.

"Sometimes you think you're close . . ." Stefanski said of negotiations. "There were some deals that we thought we were getting closer and closer on and for whatever reason they fell apart. But again, we weren't going to make a deal of significance that wasn't going to help us."